Born February 19, 1876. He was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose sculptures, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for modernist sculptors. He grew up in the village of Hobiţa, Gorj. His parents Nicolae and Maria Brâncuş were poor peasants who earned low wages for hard manual labor. He ran away often from home to escape the bullying of his older brothers and father. He had a remarkable talent for carving wood at a young age and it was beginning to be recognized. At age of nine he left his village to begin working small jobs, eventually working at a grocery store for several years. His talent was then recognized and he had his school financed for him by his employer at the age of 18 to go to Craiova Şcoala de Meserii (School of Crafts).
General Info-
He was a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction. His sculpture is noted for its visual elegance and
sensitiveuse of materials, combining the directness of peasant carving with the sophistication of the Parisian avant-garde. After
attending the Bucharest School of Fine Arts and learning of the sculpture of August Rodin. Even though he admired the eminent
Rodin he left the Rodin studio after only two months, saying, "Nothing can grow under big trees." Brancusi created his first
major work, The Kiss, in 1908. From this time his sculpture became increasingly abstract, moving from the disembodied head of
Sleeping Muse to the virtually featureless Beginning of the World and from the formal figure of the legendary bird Maiastra to
numerous versions of the ethereal Bird in Space.In the 1930s Brancusi worked on two ambitious public sculpture projects, an
unrealized temple in India for the Maharajah of Indore and the installation at Tirgu Jiu, Romania, of his Gate of the Kiss, Table of
Silence and a 100-foot tall cast iron version of Endless Column. On his death Brancusi left the contents of his studio to the
Museum of Art of the City of Paris, on condition that the studio be installed in the museum in its entirety.He died on March 16,
1957 at the age of 81 with a total of 1200 photographs and 215 sculptures left behind in the world. He was buried in the
Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Paris-
In 1903 Brâncuși traveled to Munich, and from there to Paris.His first commissioned work, "The Prayer", was part of a gravestone memorial. It depicts a young woman crossing herself as she kneels, and marks the first step toward abstracted, non-literal representation, and shows his drive to depict "not the outer form but the idea, the essence of things." He also began doing more carving, rather than the method popular with his contemporaries, that of modeling in clay or plaster which would be cast in metal, and by 1908 he worked almost exclusively by carving. His works became popular in France, Romania and the United States.
Random Facts-
In 1920 he developed a notorious reputation with the entry of "Princess X" in the Salon. The phallic shape of the piece scandalized the Salon, and despite Brâncuşi's explanation that it was an anonymous portrait, removed it from the exhibition. "Princess X" was revealed to be Princess Marie Bonaparte, direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte. Brâncuşi represented or caricatured her life as a large gleaming bronze phallus This phallus symbolizes the model's obsession with the penis and her lifelong quest to achieve vaginal orgasm.
Artwork
The Kiss in 1908 was his first major piece of work.
Background-
Born February 19, 1876. He was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose sculptures, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for modernist sculptors. He grew up in the village of Hobiţa, Gorj. His parents Nicolae and Maria Brâncuş were poor peasants who earned low wages for hard manual labor. He ran away often from home to escape the bullying of his older brothers and father. He had a remarkable talent for carving wood at a young age and it was beginning to be recognized. At age of nine he left his village to begin working small jobs, eventually working at a grocery store for several years. His talent was then recognized and he had his school financed for him by his employer at the age of 18 to go to Craiova Şcoala de Meserii (School of Crafts).
General Info-
He was a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction. His sculpture is noted for its visual elegance and
sensitiveuse of materials, combining the directness of peasant carving with the sophistication of the Parisian avant-garde. After
attending the Bucharest School of Fine Arts and learning of the sculpture of August Rodin. Even though he admired the eminent
Rodin he left the Rodin studio after only two months, saying, "Nothing can grow under big trees." Brancusi created his first
major work, The Kiss, in 1908. From this time his sculpture became increasingly abstract, moving from the disembodied head of
Sleeping Muse to the virtually featureless Beginning of the World and from the formal figure of the legendary bird Maiastra to
numerous versions of the ethereal Bird in Space.In the 1930s Brancusi worked on two ambitious public sculpture projects, an
unrealized temple in India for the Maharajah of Indore and the installation at Tirgu Jiu, Romania, of his Gate of the Kiss, Table of
Silence and a 100-foot tall cast iron version of Endless Column. On his death Brancusi left the contents of his studio to the
Museum of Art of the City of Paris, on condition that the studio be installed in the museum in its entirety.He died on March 16,
1957 at the age of 81 with a total of 1200 photographs and 215 sculptures left behind in the world. He was buried in the
Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Paris-
In 1903 Brâncuși traveled to Munich, and from there to Paris. His first commissioned work, "The Prayer", was part of a gravestone memorial. It depicts a young woman crossing herself as she kneels, and marks the first step toward abstracted, non-literal representation, and shows his drive to depict "not the outer form but the idea, the essence of things." He also began doing more carving, rather than the method popular with his contemporaries, that of modeling in clay or plaster which would be cast in metal, and by 1908 he worked almost exclusively by carving. His works became popular in France, Romania and the United States.
Random Facts-
In 1920 he developed a notorious reputation with the entry of "Princess X" in the Salon. The phallic shape of the piece scandalized the Salon, and despite Brâncuşi's explanation that it was an anonymous portrait, removed it from the exhibition. "Princess X" was revealed to be Princess Marie Bonaparte, direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte. Brâncuşi represented or caricatured her life as a large gleaming bronze phallus This phallus symbolizes the model's obsession with the penis and her lifelong quest to achieve vaginal orgasm.
Artwork
The Kiss in 1908 was his first major piece of work."Bird in Space"
"Sleeping Muse"
"The Gate of the Kiss"